3D printing could be miners' new tool

Jun.17, 2013

At last week's 3D printing expo in Mackay in north Queensland, Australia, exhibitors shared 3D printing applications in different industries and updated ideas of competitive advantage using this technology. Simon Bartlett, a mechanical engineer from Melbourne-based manufacturing and prototyping bureau RapidPro specializing in 3D printing says the practice could revolutionize parts manufacturing for
the mining support industry.

Bartlett predicted that in the future miners could make their own replacement parts on site instead of getting them sent in from outside.

"It's like Batman's utility belt, to get through his day he needs to be able call on a number of different technologies or a number of different tools," said Bartlett to the ABC.

"I think it's definitely a new tool and people are now just trying to work out how it fits in to what they do.

"So it's something that will definitely revolutionise the way we manufacture parts."